(Washington) Hundreds of thousands of Americans will see their flights canceled from Friday due to the budget blockage which is stretching out and has led the authorities to reduce air traffic in the face of the shortage of air traffic controllers.
This includes, among others, the three airports in New York, the three serving Washington, those in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta and even Dallas.
American Airlines and United Airlines, two of the main American scheduled airlines, told AFP that they were reducing their activity by 4% from Friday and throughout the weekend, or “around 220 flights canceled each day” for the first, and “less than 200 flights Friday and Saturday” for the second.
Delta, another major American airline, is forecasting around 170 cancellations on Friday out of “approximately 5,000 daily departures”.
The Trump administration announced on Wednesday a 10% reduction in the number of flights at forty of the most important American airports starting Friday.
A decision justified by the need to “reduce the pressure” on air traffic control as a matter of safety, given the lack of personnel in the control towers, who have been asked for more than a month to continue working without being paid due to budgetary paralysis.
This “shutdown” of the federal state has lasted for 37 days, a record, with Republicans and Democrats unable to agree on a new budget since 1er october.
Domestic and regional flights
Flight cancellations add to long queues at checkpoints which are managed by security agents who have also been deprived of pay for more than a month.
The disruptions begin on the eve of a weekend that many Americans will extend until Tuesday, November 11, a public holiday in the United States. And they come as Thanksgiving approaches, the great American family holiday for which millions of Americans fly every year, on November 27.
“If you have to go to a wedding, funeral or something else important in the next few days, given the risk of flight cancellations, I would advise buying a backup ticket on another airline,” suggests the boss of the low-cost airline Frontier, Barry Biffle, on social networks.
“So, if your flight is canceled, you have an immediate alternative,” he continues, advising to “purchase a refundable ticket.”
Which flights are affected?
Not long-haul international flights at this stage, United and Delta said.
United indicates in a press release that the cancellations are concentrated on “domestic and regional flights that do not connect our airport hubs”.
In an email addressed to its customers, consulted by AFP, the company specifies that flights “between (its) hubs”, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco and Washington Dulles, are not affected.
Zero dollars
American Airlines expects “around 6,000 daily flights”.
“With Thanksgiving coming up, if we’re still in this situation, it’s going to be tough. We will act on security issues. But will your flight take off on time? Will it take off at all? It remains to be seen, but there will be more disruptions,” Transport Minister Sean Duffy warned on Fox News on Thursday.
The main American companies have indicated that their impacted customers can change their trip or request a refund without financial penalty.
The budgetary blockage has seriously disrupted air traffic control.
As an illustration, “currently, half of our thirty main airports are experiencing staff shortages” and “nearly 80% of air traffic controllers are absent at New York airports”, communicated the American air regulator (FAA) on October 31.
“After 31 days without pay, air traffic controllers are subject to immense stress and fatigue,” he emphasized.
Around 14,000 air traffic controllers monitor the American skies – and are currently receiving zero-dollar pay slips.
Every day, more than three million passengers fly in the United States and an average of more than 44,000 flights carry them, according to the FAA.
